Tennessee losing war on meth

Tennessee losing war on meth

Police push for tougher laws as state becomes No. 1 in use of illegal drug

March 26th, 2013by The Tennessean in Local - Breaking News

Meth tile

Meth tile

Photo by
WRCB-TV Channel 3
/Times Free Press.

The meth users are winning, police say.

They've beaten new restrictions on how much pseudoephedrine - a main ingredient in methamphetamine - they're allowed to buy, despite a computer system designed to stop bulk sales. A bill in the legislature that would have made pseudoephedrine a prescription-only drug was killed yet again for another year. And funding to clean up meth labs across the state is set to run out at the end of this year.

"We're in trouble in Tennessee, absolutely," said Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Long, a member of the Tennessee Public Safety Coalition, which has lobbied for stricter meth laws.

"The figures now show that, according to the first three months of this year, Tennessee is No. 1 in the nation (for meth use)," Long said.